


Beware Lest They Frighten You

by Reya_Wrights



Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, Blood, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Bugs & Insects, Demon Summoning, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hallucinations, Height Differences, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Rituals, Self-Harm, Size Difference, Spooky, Summoning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reya_Wrights/pseuds/Reya_Wrights
Summary: One evening, Cass, a young woman desperately dissatisfied with her professional and financial life, reads a grimoire she randomly found before going to bed. Absolutely nothing goes as planned.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Non-Human Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Spooky Season!
> 
> I guess I got super excited about it, and my brain came up with this plot in literally one night only. It will most likely be 3 chapters long (maybe 4) and my goal is to post the last one by Halloween. If I can't respect that deadline, then it will be pushed to November, and give us a good break from the overwhelming frenzy of the year-end holidays (Halloween >>> Christmas, imo)
> 
> Also, this is my first time posting an original story *high-pitched squeal* so I hope you enjoy it and would love to get feedback on it! As usual, I will update the tags as I upload the chapters, so as to avoid spoilers.  
> Thank you! ~ R.W.

It was the first interview Cass had managed to get in the past three months, and it had been a complete failure. She could honestly say that was due to no fault on her part, though. It had become clear early on that the recruiters had already chosen an applicant they had met before her when they started pointing out skills she did not have – and that were not mentioned in the job offer. _Classic._

Although Cass knows that, her dejection is such that it takes her a few minutes to realize she has dragged her feet past her bus stop, and she throws one leg to the side to spin around without losing even more energy. Being closer to your late than your middle twenties, and still needing your parents to chip in just so you can survive with your minimum wage job as a customer service agent in the aviation industry will take a toll on your self-esteem and your mental health in general. 

Cass lets herself plop down on the bench at the bus stop and retrieves her phone from her pocket once the brain fog starts to clear. Twelve message notifications pop up on the screen as soon as it’s turned on. The last one reads ‘’m on the bus, call me when u get this’’. 

Cass snorts and places the call. Meg loves mocking her for not knowing the public transportation map of the city as well as her, yet she is the one who gets confused with the subway’s very direction every second week. “You’re on the wrong bus, dear.” Cass says as a greeting and in a tone she tries to make sound more joyous than depressed. 

Her best friend curses on the other side of the line. “Where are _you?_ A kid just threw up in here, and my dog did the same in my favorite beanie this morning, I need emotional support right now!” 

“I just got out.” 

Meg makes a non-committal hum. “Didn’t go great, uh?” 

“…No.” 

Another curse. “Okay stay where you are, send me your location. I’m coming your way.” 

Fifteen minutes later, Cass gets on the bus indicated. Meg pulls her backpack from the seat she had saved for her, and shoves an already open bag of shrimp-flavored crisps in her chest. “Whatever happened, it’s their loss, not yours. Okay?” she says as she pecks her cheek. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really… Tell me about your morning instead.” 

Meg rambles about Carlito and his capricious digestive system and the probably ruined beanie, her third least favorite aunt finally leaving and the horrible trip to the airport, her Ate announcing her second pregnancy, which had prompted a deluge of worries and passive aggressive shaming from her mother and the aforementioned aunt… By the time Meg is running out of stories, Cass’s stomach feels comfortably filled with snacks rather than tied in knots. 

“Don’t worry, Cass. You’ll find something. Besides, your life could be a lot worse…” 

“Yeah, I know. I could have no family, or –” 

“No, I mean worse like, you could be stuck in a marriage to a _mediocre straight guy!_ And… saddled with three _ugly kids!_ How fucked up would _that_ be?!” Meg’s voice gets louder with every word, which earns them outraged looks from the other passengers and Cass cannot help barking a laugh. Convincing Meg not to give up on acting classes was definitely for humanity’s greater good… She should add it to her list of accomplishments on her resume. 

Their bus tour ends when Meg’s brother-in-law calls her to offer a ride home. Cass declines as usual. There are so many public transportation stops around her flat that trying to get there by car is just a ridiculous waste of time. 

The mirror in the lift taking her to her floor is surprisingly clean tonight. “You’ll find something…” Cass mutters while staring at her reflection. “Okay, but _when?!_ ” 

There are no leftovers in the fridge, and although she is not hungry, Cass knows her stomach will wake her up before dawn if she goes to bed without eating. She settles for an apple, and halts her steps as she walks into her room. Half a dozen tabs of job offers are open and waiting on her laptop, but applying to yet another one is the last way she wants to spend the rest of the evening. Instead, she turns to her bookshelf. It is not a fancy one, just big and square and plain, blending perfectly into the decor… But that one book down there does not. Cass holds her apple between her teeth so as to free her hands to pick the intruder. 

She has seen it before, but never read it. She was not the one who bought it either, it was in one of her cartons when she moved in this flat. When she asked her parents and brother if they were missing the book, neither of them claimed it as theirs. So it had stayed on Cass’s bookshelf ever since. 

The book is paperback, yet it was made to look ancient. There is not a single word on the front or back covers, only odd symbols and small illustrations on the spine. Curious, Cass opens the book. _Manual of Black Magic_ is written on the first page. “Wow.” This is definitely going to be more distracting than starting yet another TV show.

She tosses the book on her bed and removes her pants before tucking herself in, book in one hand, apple in the other, and turns the next page. A disclaimer printed in bold in the preface reads: _Anyone who attempts any of those rituals has more chances to end up in jail or in a psychiatric hospital rather than succeed._ Cass chuckles and flips further through the pages. Indeed, some demand mare hair, others rooster brains or human skulls and blood. To be fair, she would almost consider trying one out in order to get a job, if they were not so morbid. 

It mentions the use of knives and charcoal, as well as preparations for evoking devils and other spirits. There are formulas in languages she cannot recognize, and long orations that sound either really solemn or quite hilarious. After reading about a quarter of the book, Cass has trouble keeping her eyes open. The bed is too comfortable to get up from and look for a bookmark, so she places a spare thin sock between the pages, and sleep claims her immediately after she turns the lights off. 

There is a squeeze on her shoulder. “Hey. Wake up.” 

“Five minutes, Dad…” 

Another squeeze, slightly tighter this time. “Wake up.” 

Cass can guess the LED lights of the garland by the headboard being turned on through her eyelids, but when she forces her eyes open, it is not her father trying to wake her up for school ten years ago her gaze falls on. 

Cass lets out a shrill cry as she scoots away, and falls in the space between the window and the foot of her bed. The grumpy neighbor next door wastes no time pounding against their shared wall, but Cass cannot register the noise any more than she can her bladder emptying on its own. Before her stands a tall, grim, _humanoid being._

The first thing Cass notices are the horns, sharp and twisted like those of a markhor, almost scraping the high ceiling. The creature has a slender build, and its skin color varies between dark silver shades on the contours, and black at the center of its body. On either side of the head are droopy ears – _if_ they are actually ears, for they look like nothing Cass has ever seen – that fall diagonally almost to the base of the neck. It is hard to tell whether the creature is clothed or not: below its pointy shoulders, dark fur covers its upper arms as well as its lower belly but Cass’s position and the low light do not allow her to distinguish legs. A pair or round, amber eyes shining like beacons and devoid of pupils, are riveted on her. The creature’s expression is impassive, as if it was completely unphased by her reaction and had all the time in the world. 

“You summoned us.” It speaks slowly over Cass’s erratic panting, and its voice is the most terrifying sound she has ever heard. Or rather, _voices,_ all spoken at once, one low and hoarse, the other like a screamed whisper. 

This has to be a nightmare…

“I – Wha– No, I didn’t…” 

“You talk in your sleep.” 

A _very_ vivid nightmare…

“No –” 

“You do.” 

…An _entirely too vivid_ nightmare.

“But, uh… The stuff. Tools. I didn’t get the tools fo–”

A frown suddenly darkens the creature’s features, and its color seems to take on purple shades. “You called us.” it cuts off, revealing shiny, pointy silver teeth. “Here we are.” 

_When angry, they appear reddish,_ said the book. The creature's current expression is probably as close as it comes to a snarl. 

Cass tries to breathe through her nose and steady her voice. “Right. Right. Um, I was thinking about doing business with you, if that’s alright with y–” She clears her throat and takes a sharp inhalation. “I’ve been looking for a job for a very long time now, and I’ve been unsuccessful so far… I don’t need a huge opportunity or anything, but if I could have more… luck in the future in my job hun– I mean, in my job searching, then that would be… nice? Please?” 

In one slow blink, shiny amber eyes lower to Cass’s hands before returning to her face. _You must give them something belonging to you, for these creatures do not work for nothing._

“Oh right! As payment… Uh… Oh!” she reaches for the third hoop earring hanging from her left ear and holds it up between her thumb and forefinger. “Here, it’s yellow gold… Is that alright?”

The creature glances down at the piece of jewelry and considers it for a moment. “Your payment is fair.” 

Cass lets out a shaky sigh and feels her shoulders sag in relief. As the creature makes no move to come and claim the earring, she puts it down on the floor and slides it down as far as her arm will allow in the creature’s direction. 

Again, it glances down at it, but stays rooted in its spot. “Anything else?” it asks as if expecting something.

 _Dismissal._ Cass glances anxiously at her pillow where she remembers leaving the book. There is no way her legs will agree to carry her so close to the demon… 

“You do not need the grimoire. Simply speak what comes to mind.” 

Cass allocates a whole two seconds to try and remember as much as possible of the dismissal formula. “Thank you for, uh, coming… Wait, what’s your name again?” 

The last words die on her lips as she cowers against the wall, but the creature does not seem to feel disrespected. 

“Orzgyon.”

Cass gulps loudly. Surely butchering a demon’s name is the kind of thing that would get one struck down on the spot. “Orzgyon. Thank you and please come back next time I ask you to.” 

The LED lights flicker as she holds her breath… And the demon vanishes in the blink of an eye, leaving Cass panting loudly and shaking for the remainder of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: all characters were imagined by me, if any of them look or sound like anyone (real or fictional) in any way, that is purely coincidental and unintentional. That includes Orzgyon, both in name and appearance. [I came up with the name when I was craving orzo (you know, the pasta shaped like rice grains?) and worked from there.]
> 
> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think, and look forward to the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter is almost twice as long as the first one… And I DID shorten it! Whew! 
> 
> **Warning to all readers who are scared of spiders and/or bugs** (sorry I didn't know how to tag that properly)

“How did it go?” 

“I got it! I’m starting next week!” 

Cass then has to hold her phone as far away from her ear as possible in order to preserve her ears as Meg squeals through the speaker. 

Secretary at the city’s university, two days a week. During the interview, the recruiter hinted not-so-subtly at perspectives of evolution within the department, and Cass’s soon-to-be direct manager is an adorable middle-aged woman. To top it all, since her current job in aviation only keeps her busy two to three days a week, Cass will be able to conciliate both posts. 

Meg decides all on her own to throw an impromptu party for the occasion, but on such short notice, they simply end up playing video games and eating pizza with two of Meg’s cousins and Cass’s older brother Jon. Since he works and lives outside the city, the siblings do not have as many occasions to meet as they would like to. When Jon asks what she did differently this time, Cass winks and casually replies that she invoked the devil, prompting her brother to snort and move on to another topic. Cass’s thoughts, however, wander to the creature who turned her life around. Because there is no way this is a coincidence, and she feels a surge of gratefulness overwhelm her at the thought of Orzgyon. Although their first encounter paralyzed her with fear, she is now looking forward to seeing the demon again. 

Cass decides to wait a whole month before summoning Orzgyon again, just in case any mishaps occur and she needs to ask for adjustments. On the day of their ‘’anniversary’’, she waits for night time to come and kneels on the wooden floor of her room. Since she had been able to summon Orzgyon in her sleep and without any preparation the first time, then just reciting an oration should be enough… Cass picks a simple one from the handbook, inserting the demon’s name where indicated. A minute later, Orzgyon’s shape detaches itself from the shadow of the bookshelf.

It is quite the theatrical entrance, but this time Cass feels more thrilled than terrified. Besides, she finds the demon’s appearance to be not as frightening as she remembered it. Definitely otherworldly and impressive, but not horrible. She takes the opportunity to study the creature as she holds her breath. In the space where a nose would be on a human face are only two short slits, and there must be feet under that dark fur after all, for low thuds can be heard as Orzgyon slowly approaches her. 

“It worked! I got the job I wanted!” Cass exclaims, unable to contain her excitement any longer. 

The demon does not seem to share her enthusiasm. “Yes…” is all Orzgyon says, in a tone that sounds almost questioning. 

“Well it’s all thanks to you! So…” Cass holds the gift she has prepared up. It is an old ring made of white and yellow gold interlaced together she had inherited when she was just ten, following the passing of a great-aunt she barely knew. “This is for you. A token of gratitude.” 

Orzgyon does not move, but stares at the item and blinks slowly, as if confused. “Payment comes after request.” the demon finally says. 

“Oh no, I’m not making any request tonight. This is more like a gift… You know? To show my appreciation for what you’ve done for me.” Cass lets out a nervous laugh. “Until now, I was like… I felt like a burden to my family, you know… But I won’t anymore, thanks to you.” 

Orzgyon blinks again. Twice this time, and more rapidly, before finally extending a dark palm surrounded by only four long fingers, each mounted by pointed black claws. 

Still kneeling, Cass supports herself on her free hand and extends her arm towards the demon. Although she has been quite daring tonight, she does not exactly wish to touch that hand. She lets the item drop into the palm and quickly retracts her own hand, returning to her initial position in the same movement. 

Cass sighs and offers a warm smile. For the first time in months – if not in years – she feels as light as a feather. “Well, that’s it on my end… Thank you, and please come back next time I call for you!” 

Weeks go by, quite uneventful, and eventually turn into months. Cass is happy with both her jobs and has not been able to think of a single reason to summon Orzgyon again in all this time, although she sometimes wishes she had more time to spend with her friends or going outside.

One night however, after going to sleep following a long and tiring day, Cass wakes up to odd scraping sounds. Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, Cass notices a pale Sun is already piercing through the blinds. She sits up in her bed looking for the source of the noise… and her heart almost jumps out of her chest when her gaze falls to the floor. 

A huge spider, about as big as Cass’s hand, is trying to reach her bed. With each attempt, its stretched out front legs graze the wood that supports the mattress. Her eyes never leaving the awful creature, Cass slowly slides towards the foot of the bed and reaches down blindly to where she keeps her Winter slippers. She gasps when the spider runs sideways and closer to her, only to repeat its desperate movements. Kneeling on her bed, Cass slowly lifts the slipper and throws it down as hard as she can. _Bull’s eye!_

She carefully lifts the slipper after a few seconds… and lets go of it with a cry. The spider seems perfectly fine, and is holding on to the sole with its long, pointy legs. It moves fast enough to be on top of the shoe before it even hits the floor. Cass cannot see the spider’s eyes, and yet she gets the awful feeling that it is looking at her. Looking around, she realizes she is out of ammunition. A small hiss brings her attention back to the floor. The spider is raising its front legs are her, making its whole body seem larger – or is it _actually growing bigger?_

Panicked, Cass stands up on her mattress and when her back hits the wall, the spider runs under the bed. With a squeal, Cass jumps down and dashes to the front door. She collides hard with someone outside, but takes no time to address the exclamations and whimpers that fill the hallway as she slams the door shut behind her. 

“Cass! What the hell?!” 

Meg is gripping her arm, but Cass keeps her eyes riveted on the space between the floor and the door, searching for any sign of hairy spider legs until Meg moves in front of her, invading her field of sight. She has a look of worry on her face. “What’s going on? Who’s in there?” 

“S–spider…” is all Cass can manage. “Attacked me…” 

Meg raises a single eyebrow and her tone turns skeptical. “Wait, a spider attacked you?” 

“It ran after me!” 

“Spiders don’t behave like tha–” 

“I’m telling you it attacked me!” 

“Gee! Stop yelling in my face!” Only when Meg crouches down on the floor does Cass notice that the whimpers come from her dog. Meg picks him from the floor along with a grocery bag full of tupperwares. 

“Sorry… How come you’re here?” Cass asks as she runs a hand over her face.

“I texted you that I was coming over to give you some leftovers from my Ate’s baby shower… Damn it Cass, you didn’t even put shoes on!” When the dog is calm again, Meg turns to her. “You stay here. Now, Carlito and I will go inside and look for that spider, because that weirdo actually likes chasing bugs, and we’ll kill that shit. And if it was a neighbor’s pet or something, then too bad! They should’ve locked it up better!” She is already inside and putting the tupperwares in Cass’s fridge by the end of her declaration of war. 

Cass is left alone peering into her own apartment as she tries to calm her erratic breathing. _It was not a pet._ Tarantulas are pets, and Cass knows what they look like. That was not one. 

After half an hour of thorough but unsuccessful searching, Meg decides to spray the whole apartment with an anti-bug product Cass always keeps in case of infestation, and that she will stay at her place. They spend the rest of the day cooped up and watching foreign TV shows. 

The next day, Meg pretends she needs to run an errand for her mother as an excuse to see Cass back to her apartment, and they get on a bus just before it starts to rain. After just a few minutes, Cass gets the displeasing feeling of being spied on, to the point she cannot keep up with the conversation. She nods and hums noncommittally as Meg keeps talking, while she looks around scanning the other passengers. 

Her eyes eventually land on an elderly woman, standing alone a few feet from their seats. The lady is staring right at her without blinking, an expression of sheer wrath crinkling her features even more. Cass tears her gaze off her and discreetly taps Meg’s thigh twice with her index finger. 

Meg keeps talking but her tone changes barely perceptibly, a sign she got the code for _danger nearby._ However, long seconds pass and she does not tap back.

Cass feels her heart racing. _How can she possibly not see it?!_ Not only is the old lady still staring, she is now huffing and slightly hunched forward, as if ready to pounce on them. 

“Are you alright, ma’am?” Cass asks loudly, purposely using a tone that sounds more aggressive than concerned. 

Meg elbows her in the ribs. Cass turns to her accusing look, and her eyes widen. Behind Meg, the man sitting across the aisle is salivating and his surprisingly long tongue is out, slowly approaching her ear. Without thinking, Cass wraps her arm around her friend’s shoulder and pulls her sharply towards her chest. 

“Ow! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Meg breaks free, slapping Cass’s arm in the process, and pulls on her sleeve as she gets up from her seat to press the stop button. 

Ashamed and confused, Cass follows without a word and keeps her head cast down, like a young child who has just been scolded by their mother. The whole bus is definitely staring at them now, and she does not miss the few passengers who ask Meg in hushed voices if she needs help or protection. 

When the bus comes to a stop, Meg gets off first and walks away without looking back. She is going towards Cass’s building, so Cass simply trots behind, trying to keep up with her long strides. By the time they reach the open air parking lot, Meg finally turns around and Cass can tell her anger has considerably dissipated, unlike her own feeling of guilt. 

“You know… Maybe working two jobs is a bit much for you…” Meg raises her hands when Cass opens her mouth to reply. “I’m just saying, you’ve been doing a lot lately. Just get some rest and think about that, okay?” With that, she pecks her cheek too quickly and then walks away. 

Cass shrugs to hide her nervousness. She has the next two days off, she will rest then. 

A week later, Cass purposely ignores the thin, bald customer waiting in line at the customer service counters. This is definitely not the first and probably not the last time she has to deal with creeps while on the job. However, once she is done helping the person at her desk, she cannot help glancing towards him again. His face is agitated by tics, and he looks as if he was about to jump at her throat. Usually, when a customer gets agitated, the colleagues nearby will either come to your defense or notify a supervisor of the situation… But once more, no one seems to notice the creep staring at her. 

Cass averts her eyes again and tries to discreetly catch any of her coworkers’ attention, but all of them seem too busy to notice what is going on. Starting to feel sick, she decides to go to the bathroom but a movement catches her attention as she gets up from her seat. Still staring at her, the creep places each one of his hands over his jaws and forces his mouth open wide, ripping its corners. Blood and bits of flesh spurt out, and the man’s shoulders and arms distort with loud cracks as he keeps forcing his jaws apart, until the back of his head nearly touches his spine. 

Cass covers her mouth to keep the bile in her throat from joining all the blood that now covers the floor, and stumbles towards the back door. She has to stop as soon as she reaches the narrow hallway reserved to employees, for her legs threaten to give out under her. 

“Cass? Are you okay?” 

A supervisor’s worried face comes into view. Cass cannot get a single word out, and when he reaches for the door handle that leads back to the counters, she grabs his wrist and squeezes it as she shakes her head. 

It does not take long for the supervisor to figure out the situation was caused by a customer. “Shitty ex-boyfriend, huh?” he clicks his tongue before helping Cass up. He takes her to the bathroom one floor above, surveying the area like a hawk on the way there, and even offers to wait for her outside. 

Cass stands bracing both hands against the wall, letting her head hang above the toilet until the nausea disappears and her breathing is calm again. She then washes her hands thoroughly, staring sternly at her reflection in the mirror. Behind her, the wall cracks open as dark insects crawl out, the noise produced by the wriggling of their legs and antennas gradually filling the room. 

Cass does not react, just smiles at her reflection. _This is not real. None of it is real._ She exits the bathroom when the buzzing becomes loud enough to hurt her eardrums. 

The supervisor escorts her back to her counter, and stays nearby until the end of her shift. When Cass goes over to him to apologize for the inconvenience and thank him profusely, he reminds her she is welcome to talk to him anytime about anything that bothers her. 

That man is definitely an angel, but it is a demon Cass needs to have a chat with. 

This time, she does not even bother picking up the grimoire or kneeling respectfully. “Are you responsible for this?!” she accuses immediately. 

The demon, who appeared tinted a shade of dark purple, turns carmine in a second. Orzgyon’s usually round eyes are narrowed to nearly vertical slits. “We do not work for nothing.” 

“What are you talking about?!” Cass explodes. “I’ve paid you! You said my payment was fai–” 

The voice that cuts her off sounds like a dozen of excruciating anguish cries. “You are behind in your payments! You summon but do not pay!” 

“I haven’t –” _Oh no._ Cass pales. “Wait, have I summoned you in my sleep again? Because I didn’t mean to… And hey! Why didn’t _you_ wake me up then?! Instead of messing –” 

At that, the demon takes three uncharacteristically quick steps forward and towers over her, forcing her back against the wall in a jolt. “We are not slaves!” The roar is enough to make the whole room shake.

“Alright! Alright. You want payment?!” Cass swiftly rips off all the ear jewelry made of precious metals she has on her – five pieces in total – and throws them at Orzgyon’s torso. “There you go! That’s all I have left! Take it and leave, I don’t want to see you _ever_ again!” 

She bits her bottom lip then, and regrets her rude gesture when the demon just stands there staring at the earrings fallen to the floor. 

Surprisingly, Orzgyon’s features gradually relax. Carmine turns to lavender, and back to round shape amber eyes eventually lift up to Cass. “You should not demand that. A time will come when you will wish for us to come to you.” 

Cass’s shoulders slump and she barely manages to stifle a snort. “And then what?” There is a lump in her throat and the corners of her eyes have been stinging for a while now. “I can’t pay you! And I can’t help it if I talk in my sleep! What do you want me to do?” 

“We do not work for nothing.” 

In the time it takes for Cass to wipe her tears with her sleeve, the demon has disappeared. 

Jon pulls the car to a full stop in front of the building and turns to Meg. The fact that she is trying to put up a calm front for his sake is rather obvious. 

“You said the last time you heard from her was five days ago, right?” 

“Yeah… and I guess she was out when I came yesterday. She’s probably just mad at me anyway.” Meg repeats for the umpteenth time with a shrug as they get in the elevator. 

Once they reach the front door, Jon pulls his phone out and places the call. A ringtone chirps on the other side, but there is no answer. He knocks on the door, which opens with a creak under his knuckles. They glance at each other: Cass always keeps the front door locked whether she is in or out. 

“Stay here.” Jon whispers. 

“I think not.” 

Before he can retort, Meg pulls out the blade of a light pink box cutter. “…Alright.” 

Jon pushes the door open, and a foul smell greets them. The apartment is plunged in darkness. 

Meg walks to the main room on tippy toes to let some light and fresh air in, while Jon goes to the kitchen. The floor and counters are littered in opened tupperwares with rotting food left in them and the tap is on, letting steaming hot water slowly fill the sink. Upon turning it off, Jon can now hear the sounds of someone sniffing and stifling pitiful moans along with dull, irregular rattling noises. They lead him to the bathroom, and what he finds in there blocks out the loud gasp Meg produces upon opening the blinds in the other room. 

Kneeling bare legged on the floor, Cass is holding a pair of pliers with both hands in the back of her left cheek, her face stained with tears and her t-shirt with the blood and saliva that trickle down her chin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I'm actually a bit of a scaredy cat (I couldn't go to the bathroom at night after watching Jordan Peele's "Us", why am I even writing a horror story?!) and writing this chapter got me jumping out of my skin more than once thinking I had seen bugs crawling around my room 😅


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays! I really wanted to update before NYE. I hope you and your loved ones are well.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Please MIND THE LATEST TAGS for this one.  
> (if you want to keep up with the story without reading the ugly part, stop reading after the 5 lines of dialogue near the end of this chapter, and skip directly to the last 2 paragraphs)

“Do you know where you are?” 

Without raising her gaze from her knees to the man clad in a white blouse sitting across her, Cass sniffles dryly and gives a quick nod. It is not exactly a hospital for the criminally insane, as the grimoire warned, but it is close enough. “What will happen to me now?” she eventually asks in a broken voice.

Instead of replying, it sounds like the doctor is gnawing at his lip as he taps twice with his pen on his desk. “Do you know the reason why you’re here?” he asks after a moment.

Cass swallows hard. This one, she will not answer.

“Your brother and your friend found you trying to pull out one of your mollar, and when they tried to stop you, you said it was a gift… Who were you planning to give your tooth to, Cass?” 

Cass fiddles nervously with the hem of the white cotton leggings that do not belong to her. _To the demon who helped me get a job,_ she dares not answer. Though to be honest, the past few days are but a blur to her. She does not even remember being admitted here.

Unfazed by the deafening silence, the doctor keeps going: “There were also several vials of your own blood around your apartment, as well as the bones of …”

But Cass cannot hear the end, for her entire attention has been stolen by the thick, red and blue centipede that has just appeared from the side of the wooden desk, and now zigzags its way towards them.

_This is not real._

The centipede hesitates as to which direction to choose for a second, and Cass shuts her eyes tight when it crawls inside the large sleeve of the doctor’s blouse. 

_The colors are not even natural. This is not real._

In front of her, the man’s increasingly distorted voice keeps calling her name, urging her to look at him, again and again, louder each time, until she has to cover her ears and her eyelids hurt from being forced so tight together. 

Cass knows that whatever monstrosity is sitting before her across the desk is not real, and yet she cannot bring herself to allow yet another one to assault her senses. 

* * *

At night, Cass sleeps alone in a small bedroom. Although there are bars in front of the narrow window and her door is locked from the outside during nighttime, she is not restrained to her bed, which is an unexpected relief. 

The days are ruled by a strict schedule consisting of meals, therapy sessions, and free time. All of it is punctuated by the religiously supervised intake of medications whose names Cass cannot be bothered remembering, much less trying to pronounce. She does as she is told and swallows them obediently, without asking questions or paying much attention to the information she is provided regarding eventual changes in her treatment. Whatever it is she is given, it makes her sleep like a boulder, enough to keep the nightmares away. One evening though, Cass finally mustered the courage to call Orzgyon forth – not to ask for anything, just to see if she still had the power to do so – but the demon did not manifest in any way, no matter how often she tried to repeat the experience after that. 

As for the therapy sessions, they do not go as easy as the pills. Cass only stubbornly repeats that her actions made sense to her at the time, because how would explaining any of what truly led her to this place help in any way? 

Orzgyon has not appeared since that time she confronted the demon for plaguing her mind with gruesome hallucinations. She also has not seen any terrifying-looking insects since the centipede, or had any vision of horror involving the other patients or the staff. 

Logically, if the medication makes it all go away, then maybe – _surely_ – Meg was right back then, and Cass was just stressed and tired, and her brain merely mixed up dreams and reality. 

Maybe her determination and the efforts she allocated to applying for jobs had only ended up paying off in the end… 

Surely, none of it was ever real… 

Not even Orzgyon.

* * *

One the second day of the fourth week, just as Cass is starting to seriously miss her friends and family since she is not allowed visits yet, a tall, broad-shouldered yet thin girl plops down into a chair next to Cass during lunch. 

“Hey! Heard I’m your new roommate.” A wicked smile crinkles her eyes and narrows them to slits, while revealing two severely chipped front teeth on her superior jaw. 

Cass stares in silence for a minute, before returning her attention to the bland food on her plate. The coincidence between her own loneliness and the appearance of this odd girl makes it feel unreal, however Cass decides to entertain the slight possibility that it might be. “What’s your name?”

The girl runs a slow hand through her unruly bright orange hair in a quite seductive way. “You call me Red.” 

Cass snorts and finally returns the smile. If Red is an hallucination, then she is at least a nice one.

* * *

Red knows the grounds like the back of her hand, and every day she seeks Cass to show her around as if she was officially in charge of her. Red even knows most of the staff by first name, and chats with them every time she passes them, which is the only thing that allows Cass to confirm this weird new friend is not another hallucination. 

Red talks _a lot,_ and seemingly about every and anything that goes through her mind… Which is how Cass ends up learning despite herself that Red is certain garlic is a superior food, that her front teeth got damaged to this extent when she tried to bite a wall while having ‘’an episode’’, and that she likes to masturbate better in the shower. Even at night, Red manages to be noisy, as she often lets out mumbles and sighs in her sleep, when she is not loudly snoring. 

Tonight, she is doing all three. Lulled by the odd concerto, Cass chuckles to herself until a deep slumber claims her. 

She is woken up by a feeling of discomfort in her chest. Blinking sleep away, Cass realizes she cannot move. 

“What did you say?” 

Red is sitting on top of her, her shins on either side of Cass’s flanks, orange hair and chipped teeth somehow shining despite the obscurity. 

As adrenaline makes quick work of chasing the remnants of sleep, Cass realizes her efforts to dislodge herself are fruitless, so she rounds her fist and throws it in one swift movement to surprise the other off of her. But Red must be either very slow or used to taking punches, for she does move back in time, and Cass’s fist collides in full force with the side of her nose. 

Though not what she was going for, it is at least effective: cupping her face, Red scrambles to the foot of the bed while Cass sits up and frees herself from the bedsheets with frantic movements.

“What did you say just now?” Red insists, her voice muffled by her hand covering her bloody nose. 

Instead of retorting, Cass inhales deeply as an attempt to calm herself and the situation. “I talk in my sleep, you shouldn’t pay attention…” 

But Red lashes out at her again and in the blink of an eye she is fisting her pajama top, snarling. “What _the fuck_ did you –” she stops and her eyes widen in horror as she looks behind and over Cass’s shoulder, mouth agape. 

But before Cass can fully turn around, she feels herself being abruptly pulled off the bed – Red is alternatively gripping her pajama, her hair, her neck, clawing at her arms as she staggers back, forcibly pulling Cass with her and screaming in her ear. 

“Make it stop! Fucking make it stop! G-Go away!” In her delirium, Red’s frenzied hands end up pulling Cass’s top’s collar tighter and tighter around her neck. 

Her left foot is trapped somewhere under Red’s weight, making it impossible to stand up or kick. She tries to pry those fingers that are thicker than her own open, without success. Her vision is blurred now, and the blood thumping in her ears.

As a last resort, Cass musters enough strength to throw her head back sharply, effectively breaking Red’s nose this time around judging by the noise, and the pressure around her neck finally eases off as she slumps down. 

Panting, Cass does not even have time to catch her breath that several night staff barge into the room, and a sharp pain in her arm is the last thing she can register before darkness envelops her. 

* * *

“Why did you hurt her? You two seemed to be getting along…” 

“ _She_ attacked me!” 

“You broke her nose and knocked her out, Cass. She’s covered in scratches, there’s skin and blood all under your nails.” 

“I was. Being. Strangled!” 

“Really… You were making so much progress…”

* * *

A bright silver light shines through the window. Cass does not recognize the room she is in. It is square, white, and there are no beds other than the one she is on. How long has she been asleep? 

She tries to sit up, but a strong force keeps her shoulders pinned to the mattress… Not just her shoulders, her legs and arms, too. 

_Belts?_

Leather restraints that rattle and squeak with her every movement are keeping her strapped from upper chest to ankles to the narrow bed. Her entire body feels impossibly heavy, but Cass still tries to reach for the buckle closest to her right hand…

The soft click of the door opening startles her, and the man who walks in halts his steps and blinks in surprise to find Cass staring back at him. He is a nurse, she has seen him chat with Red on various occasions from afar.

“Oh. You’re awake.” he eventually observes, and his shoulders seem to relax as he resumes his walk towards the bed. 

Cass wants to ask what time it is, where she is, how Red is doing… but the simple thought of forming and forcing words out is extenuating, and her voice stays stuck somewhere down her throat. 

Now standing right by the bed, the man seems to be checking the safety of the restraints that bind Cass by slipping two fingers under each one and tugging upwards a few times. “Don’t mind me. I’m just here to run a check-up on you.”

Rocked by the tugging, Cass lets her mind go blank and stares at the ceiling through half-closed lids. But when it stops, the touch lingers. 

Cass jolts when she feels her upper arm _groped._ The man shushes her, and repeats the same action around her midsection. 

…This is _not_ a check-up. 

“It’s okay. No need to fret.” he says over the rattling of the restraints Cass is trying to wriggle out of.

“Stop –” Cass hisses. “Stop right now and I won’t tell on you!” 

He pauses for a mere second, only to answer with a scoff. “Well, it’s not like anyone would believe you anyway! You’re among the mad now.” His tone sounds amused, Cass feels like throwing up. They both know he is right.

_Come forth and –_

“Be still now… I won’t hurt you.”

“Stop…” Cass cannot see what is going on from where she is lying down, but she can feel a hand slithering over her inner thigh. 

_Appear to me in –_

She shuts her watering eyes and barely represses a sob.

_I beg you –_

“You’ll feel good too if you –” 

“ORZGYON!” 

A horrendous, wet, tearing noise fills the room, and it briefly seems as if time itself was holding its breath. Warm blood spurts to the back of Cass’ throat, drips all over her chin and chest, splashes the rest of her face. 

She opens her eyes to the sight of the man in front of her staggering backwards, his hands flying slowly towards his ripped throat in uncoordinated movements as his blood keeps gushing out of his neck. He finally falls to the floor after some three steps, but Cass’ eyes do not follow his descent. Instead, they stay riveted to the ones that are staring right back at her, those pupil-less pools of molten gold shining like beacons she thought she would never see again, before they fade into the wall without a sound along with the dark, horned shadow surrounding them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …If this story ever becomes popular, I'm gonna sell t-shirts that say "ORZGYON SAYS KILL YOUR RAPIST". And you can't stop me. 
> 
> Also I apologize in advance for chapter 4 : a new, better idea came and overtook my original one for the end of the story, so getting my thoughts in order and actually write the whole thing will be taking some time. Thanks for keeping up with me!


End file.
